WWF engages in challenging and innovative business partnerships in order to help companies reduce their ecological footprint and make a positive contribution to the environment.
Changing the nature of business
Changes in corporate practice are essential if there is to be real progress in tackling conservation challenges like global warming, moving to renewable energy systems and clean technologies, phasing out toxic chemicals, and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources such as timber, fish and freshwater.
WWF's guiding principles for corporate engagement:
- mutual respect,
- transparency, and
- WWF's right to criticize.
Our partnerships with the private sector not only provide conservation benefits that help us to achieve our goals, but also give us the opportunity to increase business commitments to sustainable development and environmentally sound corporate practices.
Our corporate partners represent the very best in corporate social responsibility and environmental best practice – but also include companies with a poor or mixed environmental record where there is a real potential for positive change.
We work with business in the following ways:
Our corporate partners represent the very best in corporate social responsibility and environmental best practice – but also include companies with a poor or mixed environmental record where there is a real potential for positive change.
We work with business in the following ways:
- Campaigning and lobbying – WWF continues to assume its role as a credible and influential global leader by campaigning and lobbying companies at the highest possible level, using a variety of tools including our online campaigning tool.
- Promoting market change – We work with major companies and their supply chains to change the way key global commodities are produced, processed and consumed worldwide. This is particularly through specific Global Initiatives – namely Market Transformation, China for a Global Shift, Smart Energy, and Smart Fishing – as well as our Global Forest and Trade Network.
- Improving environmental performance and delivering conservation benefits – Our performance-based Conservation Partnerships with multinational corporations seek, amongst other things, to deliver direct conservation benefits and set standards for the environmental improvement within a business and its sector. We also run a number of specific programmes to help companies reduce their carbon footprint, as well as a sustainability training programme, One Planet Leaders.
- Generating support for conservation work – WWF's Corporate Supporters, Corporate Club members, and product licensing agreements generate valuable funds and in-kind support for our conservation projects.
- Promoting environmental awareness – all our corporate partnerships promote awareness of responsible environmental practice among customers, employees and other stakeholders. In addition, our media associations help profile WWF's work in the public arena.